'It's Absolutely Insane That Many Golf Clubs Still Limit When Women Can Play' - Why Clubs MUST Start Walking The Walk When It Comes To Equality

It’s all very well saying you want more women at your golf club, even showing off snazzy new gender neutral tees may portray an inclusive and respectful environment. But if a club still has very misogynistic views on women in the industry, as well as their own members, then these token gestures are utterly wasted. 

The vibe soon gets felt within the membership. Changing the future for golf clubs needs to be a team piece and it will surely be a timepiece. I genuinely believe that many clubs talk a good talk, but are definitely not delivering on equality.

A member of the Ladies Golf Lounge Facebook group discovered that “Our club’s equity and inclusion policy is currently being updated….by one white middle-aged man! No one else has been asked to get involved.” 

Sadly, a team effort in clubs is overlooked, and even though a club thinks they are doing so much towards inclusion and equality, they are doing it by excluding the voices that matter. 

It is absolutely insane that many clubs still limit when women can play, what competitions they can play in, and what tees they can play off. One woman shared, “Our club gives ladies a 10-minute slot usually 10.20-10.30am on a Saturday in the middle of the men’s competition. If ladies haven’t booked this slot by Wednesday night, it then opens to the men.” 

The limit on tee times is especially damaging to those women that work. Many of the women I spoke to have been banging the drum for working women for years. One commented, “I'm tired of taking annual leave to attend fun days, such as Lady Captain’s day,” while another said, “The challenge is when you call this out, life can become very uncomfortable - it’s hard to get people behind you when they see change as conflict and they see you as the source of conflict.”

Change seems to be a sticking point and even some women in clubs are reluctant to really embrace it fully. 

Another club member stated, “We pay less than the men - most of us are happy to pay the same, but most men don’t want us to, as then they’d have to give us more access to mixed competitions at the weekend. A lady recently suggested putting ladies’ fees up by £100 - I said I wouldn’t pay more unless we got more mixed club comps at weekends. I was told by a club official that ‘there are men, admittedly chauvinists, who don’t like ladies on the golf course and they don’t want you in their competitions, so no, there won’t be any more mixed competitions’! 

The most upsetting part was realising that in many clubs women won’t get equal opportunities until men give them to us! It was soul destroying and I nearly left, but I’m going to carry on trying to change things from within! I’m on the Comps and Handicap Committee and I’m the Ladies Secretary, so at least I have a voice in the club to try to move it forward.” 

There needs to be a feeling across a golf club that equality rules. I’d argue that many clubs/members don’t understand what equality actually means. If women can play in men’s competitions and play from the back tees, then men should be able to play in women’s comps and off the forward tees. 

The easy way to fix this is to not have sections. There should be no ownership of days in the week or times of day on the tee sheet (merely a members’ roll up until 11.30 am 7 days a week) and this includes a Tuesday morning. There is no favourable price for female memberships over male memberships. It is exactly what the word equality states, and even playing field that is fair on both sides. 

Many people feel equality is simply the times women can play and the attitude towards them. Often the course we play isn’t at all female-friendly due to the massive difference in our physical strength compared to men. A course from the reds often isn’t short enough and can equate to an 8,000 yard course if you look at the difference in strength and distance hit by women compared to men. 

Sharon Eales says, “When it comes to equality people rarely refer to the, frankly, diabolical neglect of women in terms of the golf course itself. Most courses only offer a one size fits all tee box, which is suitable for scratch females only, i.e. those hitting 210 yards off the tee. The majority of female players hit it 150 yards or less.” 

When using TopTracer, the women I coach can hit an excellent drive from the  shortest tees at Pebble Beach and not even make the fairway, we end up aiming for the cart path!

Both Sharon and her colleague Fiona Womack have done an in-depth dive into golf course design for shorter hitters, and have developed a way of illustrating the issue which produces some staggering results. 

I also believe that having a female manager in one or more areas of the club has a massively positive effect on the place. I had the most energising video call with Jo Tandy, General Manager of Sene Valley Golf Club in Kent. She’s helped the club to change their script and stamp out misogyny, and achieve a club thriving on equality. We need more women like Jo running golf clubs and working towards change. Helping members understand that change and how it will not only benefit the club but ensure its survival.

Jo believes that every golf club should become a signatory of The R&A’s Women in Golf Charter, which was introduced in 2018 to fundamentally encourage more women and girls to play golf and create more opportunities for women to work in the golf industry.

“The Women in Golf Charter was a real man-bashing tool when it began, but has evolved to become a really helpful tool for embedding equality practices, which will benefit all golfers. Applying to be a signatory on this should be mandatory and if it isn’t then it just won’t work. If just a few clubs adopt it and begin that journey to equality, great. But things will move so much faster if clubs were expected to commit to this,” says Jo.

It’s fair to say that so often women at golf clubs don’t help themselves, creating cliques and barriers. Accepting so much because it’s tradition. I’ve experienced a few incidents of this. At one club I was completely ignored because they didn’t want to be told how to improve the club by a woman. When this was raised, I was told by a female colleague, “What do you expect, they are men.” 

What I expect is an ounce of respect and I expect change. But there are men who either fear you know more than they do, or deem it ok to assume you aren’t as well versed in the game because you’re a woman. Enough. As a unit we all need to move forward to create and implement this change. Changing the story and the language used and embracing a united game. 

Another member of The Ladies Golf Lounge has a worthy suggestion. “I think golf has a long way to go in many clubs and falls behind other sports who appear to be accelerating their moves towards greater equality. I would like to see The R&A and England Golf take more action rather than bringing in new toothless advisory policies and initiatives with little or no consequences for inaction. 

They could begin with surveying the number of clubs who still restrict access to the tees for women and then actually do something about it! If the press were to do an expose on discrimination in golf, as they have in other sports, for example sexism and racism in cricket, football and Welsh rugby, I fear we would come out very badly!”

Traditions within the game of golf are often not socially acceptable these days. For example, there is a general assumption that women will hold up other groups. One such incident in Turkey saw a group of women overhearing a man say, “Oh my God, all these women (there were 16 of them in the group). Glad I’m not playing behind you!” This attitude and vocalisation of opinion doesn’t help the already heavily ingrained imposter syndrome so many women suffer with in the world of golf. 

I hope that on reading this many clubs sign up and seek advice from The R&A’s Women In Golf Charter and open their eyes to the benefits gained by having women involved in the running of a golf club. We have so much to give and also are ready to hike over mountains to give it all to improve the joy of the game that we love so much. Here’s to a brighter future on an even playing field!